The Hindu Business Line : Paper stocks hold well, bank & metals worst hit

Markets are not showing any signs of stability as those sporadic gains made on any single day vanish the very next trading day. The Sensex closed 334 points down, partly reversing the 551-point gain on Friday. Emerging markets too slid lead by the domestic stock market.

According to SEBI data, FIIs have been net buyers in Indian stocks for the whole of last week although the quantum of money flowing in on any single day has decreased. According to provisional data put out by NSE, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of just Rs 84.5 crore on both BSE and the NSE on Monday.

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Traded volumes slide further due to lack of solid fresh buying support. Traded volumes on the NSE slid to around Rs 5,500 crore after averaging Rs 7,000 crore during the previous week. Mid-caps appear to have contained better than large caps on Monday after a solid pounding the week before. Among sectors, banking and metals were the worst hit.

New listing suffer

The stocks of Deccan Aviation and Unity Infraprojects that got listed on Monday got pulped on listing. Deccan Aviation settled 33 per cent lower to the issue price of Rs 148. It struggled to push through and got subscribed just once. The stock opened below the offer price at Rs 130. Unity Infraprojects too slid 30 per cent compared to its issue price of Rs 675. Both the offers were perceived to have come out at premium valuations compared to the risks involved.

Mid-caps contain

The CNX mid cap index contained well losing 1.66 per cent compared to 3 per cent loss for Nifty. Jay Bharat Maruti, Crew Bros, Max India, Radico Kaithan, ITI, Gateway Distriparks and Auto Axles gained in excess of 10 per cent. Mid-cap stocks got battered in the previous week, and, therefore, some buying may have come in to support prices.

Paper stocks Ballarpur Industries, Orient Paper, TNPL and West Coast Paper held well in a bearish market. Seshasayee Paper gained 14 per cent.

Among large caps, Tata Steel, Reliance Communications Ventures and BHEL lost in excess of 6 per cent. ICICI Bank and Bank of India were the top losers in the Bank Nifty Index. The index slid 4 per cent for the day. Sugar stocks across the board such as Bannari Amman, Dhampur Sugar to Ugar Sugar soared on expectation that the sugar cycle may be on an upswing again.

Infrastructure stocks battered

Stocks linked to the infrastructure segment lost heavily on concerns that rising interest rates could increase project cost and slowdown projects. IVRCL, Nagarjuna Construction, Gammon, India Cements, Mangalam Cement, Srei Infrastructure, Tantiya constructions, DS Kulkarni and PBA Infrastructure slid.

Among the other major losers were Neyveli Lignite, Dewang Housing Finance, McNally Bharat, Sterlite Industries and Mid Day Multimedia.